Boston panhandlers proudly uphold the city's reputation for being as direct as possible--sometimes too direct and so direct that it merits a trip to jail. The Globe did a story on how the police have been dispersing the panhandlers and "squeegee men" at Mass Ave and Melnea Cass. But do they really have to take their squeegee supplies? The BPD took the stuff one guy used, along with a backpack and clothes, which seems......

Our sources with the Boston Bunny Barhop send us photos of the cuddly, bunny-eared mayhem that worked its way down Mass Ave on Friday night. Bunny Barhop devotees did indeed wear their ears with pride. We were especially impressed with the "Sexy Bunny," who is too sexy for his ears: The following video shows just what happens when you bunnies of all shapes, all sizes, all accents, and all levels of drunkenness: We were a......

--As if it couldn't get any worse for the MBTA. Hackers have been playing with the Charlie Card. [Boston Herald] --The owner of Tai Ho Restaurant, where Boston firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne died, wants to reopen. It's worth remembering that the fire gathered in the ceiling because grease accumulated in the vents. [WBZ] --A task force has decided, after much back and forth, to take down the homemade signs on highways thanking......

Boston's King of Boogie-Woogie With his long hair and white beard, Preacher Jack may look like a wild-eyed holy man descended from a lonely mountaintop. He's actually a living piece of boogie-woogie/rockabilly history who grew up and resides on the North Shore. Pounding the keys for fifty years, he may not keep a weekly residence at Frank's Steak House anymore, but Preacher Jack comes down to Cambridge & Boston every couple weeks to spread......

Comedy Just when you're sick of all the caucusing and candidate crap, Jimmy Tingle makes a triumphant local return with his show "Jimmy Tingle for President." Bostonist interviewed the candidate, and he's going to have plenty to say. Regent Theatre, Arlington, 8:00 pm. $30 orchestra / $25 balcony. PS--Mr. Tingle himself told Bostonist another show has been added for next Saturday, February 23. Dirty Movies Be careful who sits behind you tonight as sex......

While waiting for the bus at Mass Ave and Washington Street in the South End, we used to always wonder why an entrepreneur never converted the former Alexandra Hotel into high-end condos. It wasn't for the lack of effort. A 2006 Globe piece documents the building's long, troubled history, describing an "old Gothic goddess [that] now stands out on the corner as an over-the-hill vamp, wearing graffiti like smeared lipstick. Redevelopment is passing it by."......

Awkward Lectures Cory Arcangel's best known artwork Super Mario Clouds turns the world's first scrolling video game into a digital environment of placid repetition. It percolated on the internet and spilled into the Whitney's Biennial, making Arcangel a digital art superstar. But his true calling may have been as a lecturer. Whether the topic is hacking old electronics or copyright; his willful ignorance of art history or his place in it, Arcangel always entertains.......

The cold weather is no excuse for you not to get out! Human Dogsledding No kidding. The 8th annual National Human Dog Sled Competition will start today in Lowell. You can learn more about other Lowell Winterfest events, which sound like fun. However, for Bostonist, it is all about the human dogsledding--and teams usually wear costumes. Challenger rounds will be tonight at 6:45 and 10:00 pm, and championship rounds will be tomorrow at 3:30 and......

James McBride, Song Yet Sung Friday, February 8, 2008 7:00 p.m. St. James Episcopal Church 1991 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140 Sponsored by Porter Square Books In an interview with Time magazine following her 1988 Pulitzer Prize win, Toni Morrison described thinking of Beloved as "the least read of all the books I'd written because it is about something that the characters don't want to remember, I don't want to remember, black people don't want......

--Bostonist hasn't seen a "flagrant foul," or a sports-related blotter entry, in some time. The bad situation that was the Super Bowl loss just got worse for New England Patriots defensive back Willie Andrews, who was busted driving an unregistered car and having pot on him in Lowell. If it had happened to anyone one else, on any other day, no one would have cared. But the Herald points out that Andrews has a record.......

Watching elections returns is sort of like watching a sports championship except instead of blocks, pitch-outs, 20 yard passes, home runs and slam dunks you have... percentages of precincts reporting. And instead of talking heads who break down game strategy and player fatigue, you have guys in rumpled shirts carefully restating in different terms what they said ten minutes ago, when there weren't so many precincts reporting. If there is one group of people who......

--An MBTA employee and a friend were charged with larceny for using fake refund tickets to squeeze $465 from the T. The employee worked in the Revenue Audit Department and allegedly gave his friend the fake tickets, which she would then cash in. An MBTA employee cashing in the tickets brought the incident to light. Now, the duo will appear on next year's crime report. [MBTA press release] --A fight between two men resulted in......

--The BPD reported a sexual assault on Charter Street at about 8:00 am yesterday morning, in the thick of the snowstorm. Here is the perp's description: "The suspect is described as a light-skinned Hispanic male, approximately 6’0” in height, short hair, medium build, 25 - 30 years in age, wearing a gray-hooded sweatshirt and black pants." Police also think the same man was involved in a similar crime last summer. [BPD News, Boston Globe] --A......

Update to the Update: Green C is back to normal. (12:30 pm) Update: Just received a T alert about a problem on the Green C Line: "Subway Green "C" Line - is being diverted due to weather related problem - tree fallen on overhead at Fairbanks/Beacon street. A Shuttle bus will run in both directions between Coolidge Corner and Cleveland Circle." Drivers are already spinning out on the roads this morning, and pedestrians are walking......

Music --Multimedia artist and musician Brian Dewan will join Bostonist faves Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys, the Boston Typewriter Orchestra, and S. Joe Hazelwood at Church. Of course, the Broken Toys are promising frilly panties and corsets. 69 Kilmarnock Street, 9:00 pm. --The Lemonheads make a return to the Middle East. Evan Dando is bringing members of the Descendents with him. Dando still has a wild streak--he talked 'shrooms and Cro-Magnon man......

--In Lancaster, an 18-year-old died last night after her Jeep was hit by a tractor-trailer. WBZ reports that the driver of the tractor-trailer fled the scene of the accident. Here's the description of the tractor-trailer: "A light red tractor, towing a white trailer, equipped with many lights. Police think because of the crash, there could be damage to the driver side, most likely in the middle or the rear. --Someone stole money from the Harvard-Epworth......

Authorial Intent is Bostonist's wrapup of readings in the area. All events are free unless otherwise noted. Thursday, December 6 Greil Marcus, The Shape of Things to Come: Prophecy and the American Voice, Brookline Booksmith, 7:00 pm Greil Marcus goes in search of the American spirit and finds it in Philip Roth, David Lynch, David Thomas of Pere Ubu, and other unpredictable sources. The Village Voice writes that Marcus' latest "basks in the possibilities of......

--Laurel Sweet at the Herald did a piece on the sharp rise in domestic violence in the state. The statistics are startling. She writes, "Authorities project that by New Year’s Eve 57 people will have died this year in Massachusetts because of domestic violence - a toll not seen in 15 years." Almost a year ago, the Phoenix made similar observations, noting that the media remains fascinated with endangered women, yet no one seems to......

Four Stories The Bitter End: Stories of loss, endings, and final acts Featuring Jeremiah Healey, Drew Johnson, Julia Glass, and Joan Wickersham The Enormous Room 
(567 Mass Ave,
 Central Square) Monday, December 3 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Free! Four Stories is a unique reading series: Boston-based but also Japan-based, set in a bar, and featuring four writers instead of just one, the event proves that readings don’t have to be torture. The unorthodox setting and......

A fire late this afternoon Mass Ave in Cambridge tangled up traffic and drew many onlookers. The Cambridge Chronicle reported that the fire was at Supreme Liquors. A police officer on the scene and two witnesses said the fire was on the roof, and a crane was brought in to fight the fire. The crane appeared to be moving away at about 5:00 pm, and things seemed to be settling down. Poor Supreme Liquors.......

These Go to 11: Christopher Guest Meets Berklee Friday, November 30, 8:15 pm Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston (T: Hynes/ICA) $30 More info Get tickets Christopher Guest, star of This Is Spinal Tap and master of the mockumentary, will receive an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music on Friday. Berklee students will be playing some of Guest's biggest hits, ranging from the Spinal Tap gems to cuts that appeared in Waiting for......

--A young man was shot and killed yesterday afternoon in Roxbury. David Jones, 17, of Boston was shot several times on Bartlett Street. This is the 61st murder of the year. The Herald reports that Jones may have been friends with a gang member who was murdered in February of this year. The police don't think it was random. His family told the Globe that he was "trying to turn his life around." WBZ noted......

--Another man has been arrested for impersonating a police officer, this time in Cambridge. Alixson Marc, 21, was chasing three men on Mass Ave early in the morning on November 6. He sported a badge and a police radio. Does the Romney campaign have any openings? --A recently fired employee returned to his former place of work in North Andover and started shooting this morning. Robert Hassam, Jr., 25, of Lawrence, fired on employees of......

A special post today to highlight the amazing work of our friend hargo and his newest public art project, The Wall at Central Square. The project consists of 20 talented artists that have come together to create a unique piece of street art on an 81 foot-long wall in Cambridge. Geoff Hargadon, aka hargo, told us: "We've been installing [the wall] all this week as the artists have come in from all over the......

"Authorial Intent" wraps up book events for the week in the Boston area. Wednesday, October 24 Chris Matthews, 6:00 pm, Coolidge Corner (via Brookline Booksmith), $5 Recently, Jon Stewart sank his fangs into Matthews for pimping the concept that "Life's a Campaign," which is, admittedly, a little scary. Bostonist prefers the old saw that life is a bowl of cherries. Watch what Matthews has dubbed the "interview from hell," and you'll already be armed with......

Authorial Intent is Bostonist's wrap-up of readings around the city. Thursday, October 18 Joan Blades, 6:30 pm, Rabb Auditorium, Boston Public Library, Ford Hall Forum Series. Blades is the cofounder of moveon.org, and she's got a lot on her mind besides "General Betray-Us," which Congress gnawed on like they had nothing better to do. She'll be talking about momsrising.org, her organization that pushes for more rights for moms and families. Saturday, October 20 Frank, Mark,......

Vice/Dewar's Debate ZuZu's 474 Mass Ave, Cambridge Tonight, 8:00 pm Free, but RSVP at debate@viceland.com and, uh, be 21 Herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore? Vice Magazine and Dewar's is hosting a debate on the subject tonight at ZuZu's in their second Boston debate. And, of course, since veggie-lovers and meat-lovers can agree on a few things, Dewar's will be providing free booze. The last debate revolved around the old men vs. women argument. This time,......

Four Stories Enormous Room (567 Mass Ave) Monday, October 1 7:00-9:00 pm FREE! In its last installment, the internationally acclaimed reading series Four Stories addressed faraway places; this time, it's all about two subjects close to everyone's heart: love and money. While some of us may focus more on one than the other, either love--of a person or a passion, returned or unrequited--or money--having it or not having it--is usually at the center of most......

Improv Boston is moving from Inman Square in Cambridge to Central Square. The new space is at Prospect and Mass Ave, right by The Field in the former home of an Asian grocery. The new space represents an era of bigger, better, faster, more for Improv Boston, and they need your money for the move, so they have put together the 25th Anniversary Funny Money Capital Campaign. They'd like $150,000. So would we, but they're......

Update: Our anonymous commenter is likely correct! The substance that burned the crew was solid sodium, which MIT pranksters like to drop into the Charles for orientation. Members of a Charles River cleanup crew were burned when they picked up a "taffy-like substance." When they put it into their boat, the substance ignited upon contact with water. The cleanup crew consisted of volunteers who were cleaning up the river along the Mass Ave Bridge. Three......